Underlying principles and theories of common body composition techniques: a systematic review

Context: The measurement of body composition helps in assessing nutritional status indirectly. It is considered to be an important factor in physical development especially in sports, where there is an advantage of being tall (e.g. basketball) or small (Libero, weightlifting), heavy (sumo wrestling, Shot Put) or light (gymnastics), etc. Objective: To discuss the common methods of assessing human body composition for better understanding of the technique used. Study Design: Systematic review Evidence Acquisition: Relevant articles published from 1942 to 2012 obtained through searching MEDLINE, Google Scholar, Pub Med and SPORTDiscusTM and OVID with keywords body composition, human body composition, skinfold caliper, hydrostatic weighing, BOD POD, Tanita body composition analyser, bioelectrical impedance analysis, DEXA etc. Also, the body composition and body composition analyser websites were utilized. Study Selection: Five common methods for assessment of body composition were included for analysing the principles of the technique, advantages and disadvantages of the technique. Data Extraction: Multi-Compartmental Model and densitometry technique were studied. Results: DXA, Skinfolds, and Bio-impedance results have shown to be statistically different than Multi-Compartmental Model results and should not be compared to other technologies using the principles of densitometry such as Underwater Weighing and BOD POD. Conclusion: Every technique has its advantages and disadvantages. A combination of these methods may reduce the likelihood of misdiagnosis of Body Composition.